Business

Celebrities who endorsed the operations of Menzgold should be held responsible for the misery of customers, financial analyst, Joe Jackson asserts.

He observed that the actions of the celebrities lend credence to the credibility of the gold dealership company, getting thousands of unsuspecting members of the public to hook on to its alleged fraudulent activities.

These celebrities with millions of followers wield a lot of “influence” in society, Joe Jackson shared on TV3’s Saturday’s news analysis show, The Key Points hosted by Abena Tabi.

“In terms of holding people accountable, I think the people who should be held most responsible are all those so-called celebrities, people of responsible influence and give credibility to this scheme,” Joe Jackson who is also the Chief Operating Officer of Dalex Finance stressed.

Thousands of customers have their monies locked up in the embattled gold trading firm, following the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) directive, ordering the company to shutdown for trading without appropriate licenses.

There have been several reports of hardships the customers are facing even including some losing their lives.

According to him, though the woes of customers regrettable, persons who tried to warn them about the potential of it being a ponzi scheme were branded enemies of progress.

Mr. Jackson recalled the attacks he received when he once tweeted to caution people.

“Go and see the number of people who came back to say, ‘you are pulling him down, you are doing the wrong thing, you are envious, elder people are jealous of a younger person’, and it went on and on and on…”

He however see the current situation as a “national challenge”. The money bandied around is so huge, he explained, fearing it could affect the credibility of financial institutions as people are not able to differentiate between those doing the right thing and the fake ones.

Currently, an arrest warrant has been issued to the Ghana Police Service to apprehend the CEO of Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah who has gone into hiding as well as directors of the company. He is being sought after in about 194 countries by Interpol for defrauding by false pretense.